1. Always keep an admin account, and only log into it for installs / backups / restorations.
2. Always keep a system (time machine / restore point / image) backup from the admin account only, even if only once a week.
3. Do your everyday computing (and web browsing) on a restricted user account that cannot assume full control of the personal computer.
4. Stop being lazy. Do not allow web links to open a new browser / page / pop-up. Read before you click anything, viruses are far more annoying than being informed and decisive.
5. Stop browsing lazy. You can browse inconito, or in protected shells (VM’s), and every modern browser has some “safe mode” for surfing the internet.
6. Remember that people/programs that claim to enhance security are likely infecting your system during the “scan my pc”, people who tell you different are just selling you something you did not need.
7. Call this my tinfoil hat, but put a peel-able vinyl sticker over your built-in webcam when you are not using it. I even disconnect my X360 Kinect bar when it it not in use <-that thing creeps me out.

I have not had an infected system in 8 years by sticking to these simple computing principles. I have a G4 B/W (OSX10.3), a Macbook Pro (OSX 10.5), a Linux media server, and 3 Windows 7 PC's.

-good times and happy computing :)

]]>By: NoNeedForMonkeyshttp://www.slashgear.com/flashback-trojan-infected-2-of-all-macs-kaspersky-confirms-botnet-size-09222126/#comment-201221
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:38:00 +0000http://www.slashgear.com/?p=222126#comment-201221@ Brent Lake, I see the sarcasm is strong with you sir.

Actually, Windows OS for all it’s ilks has been fighting off mal-ware and viruses for 15+ years. Meanwhile the ~10% population of Mac PC users has been snubbing their noses at Windows for defending themselves.

There is one inexorable truth to hacking, viruses, and mal-ware: It follows the money.

Keep believing that Apple can bring in exorbitant amounts of money and not attract viruses and mal-ware. Apple has had a good run, but with success will come the unwanted side of personal computing.

]]>By: CyberGusahttp://www.slashgear.com/flashback-trojan-infected-2-of-all-macs-kaspersky-confirms-botnet-size-09222126/#comment-201215
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:21:00 +0000http://www.slashgear.com/?p=222126#comment-201215 First thing, the actual report is that 2% of those systems reporting in are indicating infection. Not all Macs have the utility for reporting their status to them however. So this is only a estimate based on their limited sampling…

The over 600,000 and counting infection though has been confirmed by multiple security firms, thanks in large part because the Flashback Trojan reports home when it infects a system and they redirected that traffic data to their servers to get a count. Actual infection rate varies per country and over half are in the US!

Second, your figures of total Macs is way off… You’re forgetting Apple doesn’t support systems that don’t run one of the last few versions of OSX. PowerPC, etc are all dropped. While a lot of people who buy Apple just replaced their old system. While the OSX market hasn’t really grown that much and still represents less than 10% of the total PC market.

It’s iOS that has really grown and already outnumbers the number of OSX systems thanks in large part to the success of the iPhone and iPad. But this attack doesn’t effect iOS, just OSX and so you can’t count those in the total.

In terms of security iOS is more secure than OSX thanks to heavier use of sand boxing apps and the added security of the app market. However, even iOS can be hacked and attacked. Features like requiring signed certification for apps doesn’t prevent loop holes like having the app self signed for example.

Third, Conficker actually only infected about 0.7% of the Windows install base world wide. There are hundreds of thousand Windows systems world wide that represent over 80% of total PCs, even back in 2009, and the estimated number of infected systems for conficker was only between 9 and 15 million.

Though because of the much larger user base that still represents many millions of users but Trojans are primary targeted to get installed by user error… In other words they trick the user to install them, but the rate of infection of that type goes up with the larger user base. So if Apple had as many Mac users as MS has for Windows then the infection rate would have been much higher.

Mind also that Apple had to release two patch updates… the first for Lion and then the second for the older releases. So it took awhile for the updates to get out to all systems and that’s assuming all of them got updated. However, the patch was just for the Java flaw that let this Trojan act more like a worm and didn’t really need you to do anything but visit the wrong site to have it install itself.

So the Trojan part still works and you still have to avoid putting the details it needs to get access to your system. Though if you have a AV then the Trojan is programmed to self delete if it detects a AV on the system and you can play it safe and web browse as a basic user and not as Admin… Assuming of course that you’re not infected already.

]]>By: I'm Batmanhttp://www.slashgear.com/flashback-trojan-infected-2-of-all-macs-kaspersky-confirms-botnet-size-09222126/#comment-201170
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:57:00 +0000http://www.slashgear.com/?p=222126#comment-201170Someone’s posting like they’re butthurt from the article…
]]>By: funkotronichttp://www.slashgear.com/flashback-trojan-infected-2-of-all-macs-kaspersky-confirms-botnet-size-09222126/#comment-201144
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:46:00 +0000http://www.slashgear.com/?p=222126#comment-201144Headline is beyond misleading, it’s straight up sensationalism. 2% of **all** Macs? Seriously? Back in 2010, it was estimated that there were over 93 million Macs running. Apple has been selling about 8-10 million Macs a year since then, so for easy figuring just round it to 100 million Macs running right now. So 2% of 100,000,000 = 2,000,000, which is 4X the amount of infected machines reported by Dr. Web, or more like .5% of the installed Mac user base. Now compare that .5% to the 5% infection rate of Conficker, and the penetration rate is only 1/10 that of PCs. Or, I guess you could say that the last big PC infection was 10 times worse than this Mac infection, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun, now would it? Everybody’s jealous of Apple’s runaway sucess, so I guess that makes them an easy target – I get that. And Dr. Web has gotten million$ in free advertising out of the deal… gee, isn’t it interesting that they just *happen* to sell AV products? I understand that deeper in the article it clarifies that 2% of the Mac users who used the Dr. Web tool reported infection… OK, sure, but that is far from 2% of ALL Mac users. Please, Rue – let those pesky little things called “facts” come into play, OK? I’m really starting to see that “journalism” and “integrity” are no longer words that should be used in the same sentence, even in the tech press. But hey, you got MY click, and that’s what counts, right? Gotta have those eyeballs….
]]>By: Brent Lakehttp://www.slashgear.com/flashback-trojan-infected-2-of-all-macs-kaspersky-confirms-botnet-size-09222126/#comment-201128
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:53:00 +0000http://www.slashgear.com/?p=222126#comment-201128“Macs don’t get viruses, that’s why I would never buy a PC, cause I’m really really smart and trendy.” I guess some group of hackers felt it was worth it to hack the OS only used by 10% of the population just to prove the point. Yes, macs are far more secure than PCs, but just like any system they can still be hacked.
]]>By: Thailand Reisenhttp://www.slashgear.com/flashback-trojan-infected-2-of-all-macs-kaspersky-confirms-botnet-size-09222126/#comment-201126
Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:52:00 +0000http://www.slashgear.com/?p=222126#comment-201126So much for “Macs don’t need antivirus” ;-)
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